Frequently Asked Questions

But haven't women already won their equality?

No. What has happened is that certain legal barriers to women have been lifted – at least formally. But, this formal “equality” actually masks a much deeper oppression of women that not only remains, but is intensifying. 1 in 4 women in college will be raped while in college, every 15 seconds a woman is beaten, each day 3 to 4 women are killed by their husband, boyfriend or ex. There is an all out war on women's right to abortion and birth control and the mainstreaming of increasingly violent, degrading, and cruel pornography against women. In short, women are far from liberated. This is why we must take up this fight!

No, we are not against men. Yes, men can – and should – join Stop Patriarchy. Fighting against the oppression of women is not a fight against men. It is a fight against the system of male-domination and against the ways that so many men have been socialized to take part in that system and rewarded when they do. Just as many white people were involved in the Civil Rights movement (and just as many, many more white people today need to get involved in the ongoing fight against the criminalization of and murder of Black people like Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis, Mike Brown, Eric Garner, and too many more), men can and should become very active in the fight for women's liberation.

Ask a Question

If you are for a woman's “choice” to have an abortion, why are you against her “choice” to be in or use pornography?

We are fighting for women's liberation, not for “choice” in some abstract and individualistic sense. Frankly, it is absurd to think that every choice made by every individual woman should be defended and upheld. What if a woman chose to go out and kill a bunch of innocent people? What if she chose to do a racist comedy routine? Those are not choices that we would uphold or defend. In evaluating any behavior, the most important thing is not whether the individual genuinely chose it, but what is its social effect? A society that forces women to have children against their will is a society that enslaves women. This is why we fight for Abortion On Demand and Without Apology! A society which turns women's bodies and degradation into commodities and which socializes men to get off on women's humiliation, degradation and even torture, is a society where no woman can be free of that degradation or free from the fear of rape, brutality and disrespect that flows from those larger relations. This is why we fight to end to pornography and the entire sex “industry.”

But doesn't that mean you are blaming and shaming women in the sex industry?

No. We are fighting for a world where there is no longer a “market” and demand among men to purchase women's bodies and degradation. We are fighting for a world where never again is a woman desperate enough to be used in that way and where never again are women socialized to believe that it could possibly be “empowering” to be used in this way. The truth is, the overwhelming major of women used in the sex industry have been tricked, beaten, kidnapped, coerced, raped, sold by starving families, or driven to it out of abject desperation. As for the very small percentage of women who do “choose” to participate, including those who loudly proclaim this as a form of “empowerment,” we do not blame them for the existence of the industry. We do, however, disagree with their decision to be part of it and we will struggle with them to see why this works against the interests of women as a whole and to join in the struggle to end pornography and patriarchy. At the same time, we will fight vigorously against misogynist attempts to shame, stigmatize, humiliate and harm women who are in the sex industry, just as we fight against misogyny in all of its forms.

No. Stop Patriarchy is a movement to end all forms of enslavement and degradation of women. Everyone who is outraged by these things should be part of Stop Patriarchy. Does this include communists? Yes. It also includes feminists, humanists, religious people, atheists, agnostics, social reformers, other revolutionaries, anarchists, people who vote and people who don't vote, and people from a great many other perspectives. The outrages being perpetrated against women are not part of a “communist narrative” or a “feminist narrative” or any other “narrative.” They are objectively happening and everyone who is outraged by these crimes against women – or who can be won to be outraged by these things – should be part of this movement.

But don't all those “outside politics” get in the way of forging unity for women?

No. If the oppression of women could be done away with just by good intentions, we would not be living through the current war on women. In reality, it takes work to identify the source of this oppression and the means through which it can be ended. As such, it is extremely important for people to bring all their understanding into this movement with them. Everyone should contribute their best understanding to not only the question of what must be done right now to fight this war, but also to what it will take to win the full liberation of women. In this way we can all learn the most from each other and forge the deepest unity among people from different perspectives over the need to step forward now to fight shoulder-to-shoulder against what all of us can identify as outrages that no one should put up with.

Ask your own using the form above (right).See more Q&A on our blog: Mailbag Series

Who is stop patriarchy?

Stop Patriarchy is a group for everyone who wants to FIGHT to STOP the enslavement of women. Not politely lobby against it. Not grumble at the TV. Not simply post things on Twitter. And definitely not sit around waiting for those in power to “come to their senses.” It is also a movement for everyone who can be won to see the need for this – we are fighting aggressively to change minds and to grow and deepen and escalate until we succeed in changing everything. JOIN US!